


Lovely Lady May

by Hail_the_gay



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Guitar, Music, Song fic, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28506312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hail_the_gay/pseuds/Hail_the_gay
Summary: When Maybelle Butterfield first met Benjamin Parker, she was slightly stunned by his charm, when her friend, Sara introduced them on the quad and he immediately sang to her.She reached her hand out to shake and he grabbed it firmly. “I’m Ben.” He said, a wide grin on his face.“I’m May.” She returned the enthusiasm and sat down across from him, Sara next to her.His eyes lit up like stars and he grabbed the guitar in his lap, starting to strum a little tune.—Or—The stories of May Parker through Ben’s song to her
Relationships: Ben Parker/May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Lovely Lady May

**Author's Note:**

> *inspired by Tyler Childers “Lady May”*
> 
> Love you and goodnight
> 
> -Parker

When Maybelle Butterfield first met Benjamin Parker, she was slightly stunned by his charm, when her friend, Sara introduced them on the quad and he immediately sang to her.

She reached her hand out to shake and he grabbed it firmly. “I’m Ben.” He said, a wide grin on his face.

“I’m May.” She returned the enthusiasm and sat down across from him, Sara next to her.

His eyes lit up like stars and he grabbed the guitar in his lap, starting to strum a little tune.

“I'm a stone's throw from the mill. And I'm a good walk to the river. When my workin' day is over, we'll go swim our cares away. Put your toes down in the water. And a smile across your face, and tell me that you love me, Lovely Lady May.” The last line was almost a whisper and May’s face broke out into a wider smile than before. He went through the whole song, playing every note beautifully.  
When he was finished, he set the guitar down in his lap and looked at May, a blush on his face. 

“Sorry, that was-” He blurted out, but May cut him off, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“That was amazing! You play so beautifully! I wanted to learn guitar but my parents never let me.” She sighs, sitting back in her place. “I loved that, thank you!”

Sara laughs next to her. “You got lucky with your name, my song was ‘Sara’ by Jefferson Starship.”

“That wasn’t a bad one.” Ben scoffs. “I once sang Jolene to someone but I forgot the words so instead of stopping I just made it really weird. At one point I said _we cower here beneath your gaze, that sets the earth and sky ablaze, have mercy at the end of days, Jolene._ Turns out she loved that because she wanted to be president, so we’ll see how that turns out.” He laughs and May hides a smile behind her hand.

***

May is sick of this dress. It’s not too poofy, and she’s never hated poofy things. But for a 2001 wedding dress, it’s poofy. The skirt is pretty big and for the first hour or two, she loved swishing around in it. But at hour 3, she would kill god to be able to sit in some pajamas, devouring a pint of ice cream with her husband. She smiles at the name _husband_. It makes her shudder to be able to call Ben her husband. Speaking of whom. Ben walks up to her and pulls her out of her chair, where she’s ignoring Mary Parker, her sister-in-law, talk about her fears of being pregnant.

“I would kill God for some ice cream and pajamas with you.” She whispers in his ear. He laughs, kissing her.

“Kill God after the dance.” He says back to her, pulling her into the middle of the ballroom. He places a hand on her waist and she in turn places one on his shoulder. She can feel the room quiet down and she’s burning at the cheeks at the thought of all eyes on her.

“I hate you tesoro.” She says. 

“I love you too.” He laughs.

The DJ at the front of the room picks up his mic. “Now it’s time for the first dance of the night, between the lovely married couple.”

A familiar tune plays through the speakers and May almost starts crying. “I'm a stone's throw from the mill, and I'm a good walk to the river. When my workin' day is over-” 

“This is our song.” She laughs, gasping. He swings her around the room and holds her close, nodding.  
“That it is, lady May. I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“-And I've held my weight in shame, but I'm baptized in your name, Lovely Lady May. Lord the wind can leave you shiverin', as it waltzes o'er the leaves, it's been rushin' through my timber”  
May can’t hold back her tears anymore. She sobs through the rest of the song, laying her head on Ben’s shoulder and trying to stop herself from sobbing. 

***

When Benjamin Parker dies, she doesn't speak. She holds her nephew Peter in her arms and lets him sob all his worries away. He says “I’m sorry.” 64 times that day. She counted. Saying nothing in return. When he sulks away to his room for bed, still whispering sorry into the night, she quietly sits in her room, sitting on the hardwood floor and pressing play on her phone.

As the first words of the song echo through her room, the tears start pouring before she has a chance to think. She hears the floorboards creak and her head shoots up as Peter walks into the room, his face red and puffy from sobbing.

“Hey kiddo.” She’s been parenting this kid for 8 years now, why does she feel awkward? “Come sit.” She whispers, patting the floor next to her. Peter cautiously wanders in and sits next to her, legs scrunched into his body, held by his arms.

“Maybe if I take up less space, I’ll disappear.” Peter whispers to himself, but May catches it.

“Hey, baby. None of this was your fault. Now, we just have to live by ourselves. We’ll manage, though. We’re Parkers.”

“We’re Parkers.” Peter echoes. “...What’s this song?”

“Listen, Petey-Pie. Just listen.” She says, wrapping him up in a warm hug like she always does when he’s sad. “It was Ben’s song to me.” She says after a beat of silence.

“Oh.” Peter mouths. “Even if we’re Parkers, can I have the day off school tomorrow?”

May laughs and squeezes him tighter.

***  
1 month after the day Peter Parker turns 16, he doesn't return. Neither does his best friend Ned, or that girl, MJ, that he’d been mentioning. But you know who does return? _Tony Stark_. Who came to her house with apologies on his lips and tears in his eyes. The Tony Stark whom she forgave for not being able to bring back her only family. Peter was gone and so was Ben, so here she sat in her living room, with a corner store sheet cake, to celebrate death and life and everything in between. 

“Alexa.” She grumbled, staring at the blue ring light up on her coffee table. “Play my playlist.”

The ring disappeared without a word from the bot and started playing a familiar guitar tune. She immediately regretted saying anything, since God was apparently listening to her heart and decided to fuck with her.

“Be grateful I didn't kill you at my wedding, asshole.” She said after a moment. “I hope you're reigning your horrible Godly powers on other mourners.” Her plastic fork was picking at the cake, scraping the frosting off the top. She didn’t care for frosting, unlike Peter, who cared for everything. And Ben, who preferred frosting over cake. 

“How is shuffle play this decisive?” She questioned into an empty apartment, devoid of a hyper teenager and a sarcastic man. “Why couldn’t I have been there instead of Tony! If he was gonna die, I AT LEAST DESERVED TO SEE IT!” She screamed into the open air. “Look, God. I’m no Iron Man, but I loved my kid, and I loved my husband. I’m a good person. I work as many shifts as possible at the hospital. I hold dying and sick infants and I comfort parents after their loss. No one will comfort me though. I need some comfort, God.”

She wiped the tears from her face, and took a bite of cake with a mountain of frosting on top.

***

“Hey May. Whose is this?” May turns around to find Peter holding up an acoustic guitar. She smiles at her nephew. 

“Look on the back.” She knows this guitar like the back of her hand and knows Ben’s initials are on the back of the wood.

“It’s Ben’s.” Come Peter's soft voice from the couch. He’s tracing the initials carved into the wood. “Do you know how to play?”

“Yeah. Ben taught me, soon after we met.”

“Would you teach me?” 

“Sure! Come here.” Peter stands and goes to sit next to May, who takes the guitar. “This is the C chord.” She says, placing her hands on the frets. She moves her hand across the strings, pointing out the chords to Peter. “Here. Now play C, F, Am, and C/B.” She suggests.

He does as told and says. “This sounds familiar.”

“It should. It’s Ben’s song to me.”

Peter’s mouth forms an ‘O’ but it’s silent. “I remember listening to that song when I missed you.”

“I listened to that song when I missed the both of you.” She says, kissing his cheek and walking towards the kitchen. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Cake.” He says, not looking up from where he’s experimenting with chords on the guitar.

“Alright.” May agrees. “Cake it is.”

***

May sits in the back of the room, next to Michelle Jones, Peter’s fiancée. The lights are dim and the mood of the room is cheerful and drunk. Especially drunk. MJ takes a sip of her soda and May a drink of her beer. The announcer at the front of the room says the name once again the person who was just on stage and moves on to the next performer.

“Now, Peter Jones-Parker on the guitar.”

MJ turns to her with a smile. “I made him put that as his last name, even if we’re not married yet.”

“It sounds good. I like it.”

Peter walks onto the stage, squinting at the bright spotlight. May can see him take a deep breath and sit on the stool, trying to calm his nerves. He taps the beat out with his foot and starts playing. His silver ring glinting in the light.  
“I'm a stone's throw from the mill. And I'm a good walk to the river. When my workin' day is over, we'll go swim our cares away. Put your toes down in the water. And a smile across your face, and tell me that you love me, Lovely Lady May.” 

May’s hand flies to her mouth in surprise and a smile breaks on her face. 

“Please don’t cry.” MJ says, slinging an arm across her shoulder. “Cause then I’ll cry and I don’t want to cry.”

“I won’t cry, MJ. Don’t worry.” She smiles at the girl, giving her a side hug.

“Now I ain't the sharpest chisel that your hands have ever held. But darlin' I could love you well,  
Til' the roll is called on high. I've seen my share of trouble, and I've held my weight in shame. But I'm baptized in your name, Lovely Lady May.” He whispers the name once again, like with the previous verse and May is taken back to college. She’s sitting on warm grass and hearing a boy she’s never met before play a song in her name. But she looks up again and it’s her nephew and her soon to be niece-in-law in the room. She’s staring at Peter, overjoyed by his song. She catches his eye and he sends a wide smile in her direction.

He plays the last chords of the song and stands, waiting for the clapping and cheering to end. He walks off stage and May holds a hand to her heart, a tear running down her face.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! I know May got snapped during the blip but for this to work, she had to live. Sorry not sorry


End file.
